Unknown County GaArchives Biographies.....Law, Samuel Spry 1774 - 1837
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Author: J. H. Campbell
REV. SAMUEL SPRY LAW.
The Rev. Samuel Spry Law, the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Law, was born in
Liberty county, Georgia, in the year 1774. His father removed from Charleston,
South Carolina, some years before the birth of his son, Samuel, and settled on
the seaboard of Liberty county, and engaged in planting. He was a man of piety—a
member of the Episcopal church—of strict integrity and great firmness. His
mother, whose maiden name was Spry, was a woman of uncommon fortitude, as we may
learn from a little incident in her life, which occurred during the darkest
period of the revolutionary war. On one occasion, while her husband was absent
from borne, their house was plundered by the tories. She was alone with her
children. Upon leaving, they attempted to set fire to the house, but to this she
would not submit. As soon as they had kindled a fire, she extinguished it, for
which she was knocked down. They attempted to fire the building the second time,
and the second time she put the fire out and was knocked down. This was repeated
the third time, when some of the party, with a little more feeling than the
rest, persuaded their companions to desist and not burn the house. Their son,
Samuel, inherited the firmness of his parents, for he was a man of undaunted
courage and great firmness of purpose. He grew up during the days of "saddlebag
teachers " and "old-field schools"—names very expressive of the intellectual
furniture of the schoolmaster, and literary fertility of the institutions—and he
consequently received only the barest rudiments of an English education, such as
spelling, reading, writing and simple arithmetic. The best advantages he enjoyed
during his youth, were from a two years’ residence in the family of a French
Marquis, on Sapelo island. In that family he learned to speak the French
language with tolerable fluency, and he there acquired that ease and suavity of
manners which continued with him through life.
After he became of age and settled in life, his position in society gave him
the advantages of association with intelligent and educated men, which his
naturally strong mind and sound judgment turned to good account. His occupation
was that of a planter. Up to the age of forty, he was strictly a man of the
world. He was a man of high toned feeling, proud, fond of gay life, generous and
hospitable almost to a fault. He was passionately fond of military life, and
indulged his taste as far as circumstances would allow. At the age of
twenty-five, he married Miss Mary Anderson, of Liberty county, who lived but
eleven months after the marriage. She left one son, who survived his mother but
eighteen months. In 1802, he was married to Miss Rebecca G. Hughes, of
Charleston, by whom he had ten children, some of whom are still living. Soon
after his second marriage, he made Sunbury the place of his summer residence. In
this place there was a Congregational church, and about this time a Baptist
church began to rise up under the labors of Rev. C. 0. Screven. Mr. Law and his
family became members of the congregation of the Congregational church, and some
time after his connection with that congregation, he was elected clerk of the
selectmen, as we learn from a letter dated 1811, written by the Baptist church
to the Congregational church, and addressed to Captain S. S. Law, as clerk of
the selectmen of the Congregational church. In the opposition (and there was
much,) that was made to the establishment of a Baptist church in Sunbury, he
took a very active part. Some one or two years after this, his wife having
experienced a change of heart, expressed a desire to unite herself to the
Baptist church. This was very much against his wishes, and contrary to his
expectations, still he did not oppose her, but simply said to her, "You can do
as you please; but remember, when I become a Christian, I shall go the other
way." It was about this time that, rejecting the doctrine of regeneration, he
commenced becoming moralist, upon which he rested his hope of acceptance with
God. In accordance with his plan, he became a strict moralist, holding worship
morning and evening in his family, which he continued for a while, but at
length, "finding it useless," as he said, he gave it up. This attempt at
self-justification by good works, doubtless arose from a heart ill at ease
respecting his future state.
Among his papers was found a brief account of his feelings, the fall of 1814,
before his conversion; it was written after his conversion. Here follows as much
of it as is deemed necessary: "The day I was forty years of age, I thought much
of another world, and prayed most fervently to God that if there really was
another state of existence, and a change of heart was necessary, that I might be
convinced of it before the year was out or rather before I was forty-one years
of age. My mind was more serious than usual all the fall; frequently found
myself absorbed in thought, and at times so absent that I was hardly able to
attend to business. In the month of December following, a Mr. Flint, a young
clergyman from New England, came to my house. I was pleased with his appearance
and manners; he was to preach in the meeting-house in the evening. I at first
thought I would go and hear him preach; again I concluded I would not go; that I
seldom heard any preaching which was of benefit to me. The thought then occurred
to me that on my birthday I had prayed to be made sensible of the reality of
religion, and if there was any truth in it, to be convinced of it in the course
of the year. This question was then suggested to my mind: "What are considered
the effectual means of salvation? God maketh the reading, but more especially
the preaching of his word, an effectual means of salvation. While reflecting
upon this answer, the expression, 'especially the preaching of his word,' struck
me so forcibly that my mind was made up in an instant to go and hear the
preaching in the evening, which I did. While standing up during the first
prayer, my heart was lifted up to God in prayer, that if a change of heart was
necessary to salvation, I might be convinced of it that night. The sermon was
from the text, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.' During the
sermon, I felt that the foundations of my moral system were giving away, and
that I must repent of even my self-righteousness, which I had thought would
carry me to heaven. When I went to bed that night, I felt that I was one of the
worst kind of men."
The January following, 1815, being major of cavalry, he was ordered with the
squadron to join the troops assembling in Darien to repel a threatened attack
upon the place by the English. The stirring scenes of military service would in
all probability have erased from his mind the favorable impressions that had
been made upon his heart just the month before, but God was watching over and
guarding the good seed that had been sown in his heart. When one day he was
about to engage in drilling the squadron, he was taken suddenly ill and would
have fallen from his horse, but was prevented by his aid and a very intimate and
dear friend, Captain Joseph Jones, then commanding the Liberty Independent
Troop, who took him from his horse and carried him to his quarters. He continued
very sick during the stay of the troops in Darien, and he was not able to return
home until some time after the army was disbanded upon the declaration of peace.
The circumstance of his sudden attack impressed his mind deeply with the
uncertainty of life and his entire unfitness for death. As soon as he could ride
he returned home, more deeply impressed with the necessity of a change of heart
and more troubled about sin than when he left it. He continued in a very
distressed and dejected state of mind until the April following, when he found
peace in believing in Jesus Christ. A few days after indulging a hope, he
applied to the Sunbury Baptist church for membership, and being received for
baptism, he was, on the 30th of April, 1815, baptized by Rev. C. 0. Screven, the
pastor, and became a member of the church. Years afterward, when reverting to
this period of his life, I have heard him state that when he left his house to
go to the church to relate his experience, he felt that his strength would fail
him before he reached the meeting-house. His feet seemed weighted with lead. He
felt that his mind was all darkness, that he had nothing to say, and he wondered
why he was going. After reaching the meeting, and he was called upon to relate
what God had done for him, he arose and commenced, and though at first
embarrassed, yet soon light burst in upon his mind. His heart became filled
with the love of God, his tongue became loosed, and he knew not when or where to
stop. So affecting was the relation he gave of God'a merciful dealings with
him, that there was not, I have heard an eye witness state, a dry eye in the
house. In the brief account he gives of his conversion, from which an extract
has already been given, he thus speaks of his feelings after his conversion: "I
feel that I have been asleep for many years and have just awoke—all nature is
more beautiful around me, whereas all was gloom and despair. God has withdrawn
far from me, and left me to myself because I did not desire the knowledge of his
ways. I had thought I would build up a system of morality to save myself, until
he convinced me that it was without any foundation, and he overthrew it all at
once, just when I was consoling myself that I was getting it to be a very
perfect structure. No man on earth could have convinced me of my error, and I
did not attribute it to anything Mr. Flint said, or to his knowledge of the
human heart, but that he was sent by God with such words in his mouth to
convince me that I must repent of all my sins, and even of all my
self-righteousness, and that I must build upon the chief corner-stone, Jesus
Christ. After my conversion, I commenced the worship of God in my family. I had
once before attempted it, but gave it up, considering it useless, but I now
regard it as one of my most important duties and one of the greatest pleasures
of life to acknowledge our sins before God, to ask for pardon, to return thanks
for all his blessings, and to glorify his great name. Indeed, I feel that I
might as well try to live without food and sleep as to live without endeavoring
to glorify God."
His connecting himself with a Baptist church was somewhat remarkable, as all
his former prejudices were in favor of the "poedo-Baptists. He had been brought
lip in the faith of pcedo-baptism. His father was an Episcopalian, and all his
brothers who had professed religion were members of a poedo-Baptist church. But
he consulted not with flesh and flood, and taking his Bible for his guide, he
followed what he believed to be its teachings. This disposition to follow not
men but the word of God, as .the only infallible rule of faith and practice,
which was thus clearly manifested in his first step in his Christian life,
governed him through the whole of it. Conscious of great spiritual ignorance,
but relying upon the safety of the direction with the promise annexed, "If any
man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth liberally and upbraideth not,"
he applied himself diligently to the study of the scriptures. He asked and
studied, and studied and asked again, and he asked and studied not in vain. The
almost worn out leaves of his Bible are witnesses of his constant application,
and there are many now living who can testify to the thoroughness and soundness
of his knowledge of the fundamental doctrines of the Bible.
From the records of the Sunbury Baptist church we learn that he was elected
clerk of the church in the place of Sumner Winn, resigned, on the 17th of
August, 1816, a little more than a year after becoming a member.
Having lost his second wife, he was married to Miss Temperance Wood, of
Sunbury, on the 1st of December, 1818. By this marriage he had three children,
of whom only one survives.
May 15th, 1819, he was elected and ordained to the sacred office of deacon. No
one, perhaps, possessed more fully than he did the qualifications for this
sacred office. He "used the office of a deacon well," for he did thereby
"purchase to himself a good degree," whether by this be meant an elevated
station as a Christian, or a higher post, the office of elder or bishop, and he
did, sooner than Christians generally, acquire great boldness in the faith. In
filling the office of a deacon, he did not limit himself to serving tables. He
freely and humbly exercised the gifts God had given him, having an ardent desire
to glorify God in his day and generation. The health of Mr. Screven being
infirm, from a cancer in one of his eyes, he gave him much assistance in
attending to the colored people of the church and congregation. In the
conference and social prayer meeting he expounded the scriptures and exhorted
his brethren to diligence and perseverance in the divine life. His precepts in
the religious meeting were eminently enforced by his daily walk. He labored
diligently and perseveringly after that attainment in piety to which he exhorted
his brethren.
Having for several years exercised his gifts before the church, and having in
the opinion of his brethren made considerable progress in knowledge and piety,
and showing considerable aptness to teach, his brethren, in order to increase
his usefulness, urged upon him the acceptance of a license to preach, which he
did. The first notice we have of his preaching as a licentiate is from a minute
in the church records, dated November 19th, 1825, in which it is stated that he
preached the sermon preparatory to the Lord's Supper—we presume because of the
indisposition of the pastor. On account of the great destitution of ministerial
labor within the bounds of the Sunbury Baptist Association—many of the churches
being almost entirely without the ministration of the word—the church called him
to go forth as an evangelist, and to this end they Invited a presbytery, which
convened in the Sunbury Baptist church, December 27th, 1827, who, having
examined him, proceeded to ordain him. The presbytery consisted of William B.
Johnson, D. D., elders Wilson Conner, Jacob Dunham, James Shannon, and the
pastor, Charles 0. Screven.
It was with particular reference to the wants of the colored people on the
seaboard, and the poor white churches of the Sunbury Association, that, in
obedience to the call of his brethren, the subject of this sketch consented to
assume the duties and responsibilities of the ministry. This was the field of
his choice, for the desire of his heart was to do good, and in this field he
felt he could do the most good. But the providence of God disappointed him in
his design of confining his labors exclusively to this field. The Rev. C. 0.
Screven becoming entirely disabled for preaching from the cancer in his eye,
resigned the pastoral charge of the Sunbury Baptist church, May 16th, 1829. The
church, in her destitute situation, looked to him to go in and out before them,
and to break unto them the bread of life. He was unwilling to take the oversight
of them, because, from his want of education, he felt that he was not qualified
to be the religious teacher of such a congregation as then met in Sunbury for
worship. But rather than the church should suffer, and there being hundreds of
colored people connected with it who must be taken care of, he determined, in
the strength of the Lord, to take up the cross in their service. In connection
with this church, he also served, but not as pastor, the North Newport Baptist
church, Liberty county. Though, by this arrangement, his itinerating was
curtailed, still it placed him, perhaps, more fully in one part of the field of
his choice— the colored people; for there were a great many connected with the
churches and congregations he now labored with. To the colored people of the
North Newport church and congregation he devoted the afternoon of every Sabbath
he preached in that church.
In the fall of 1830, his son, J. S. Law, returned from the North, where he had
been pursuing a course of theological studies. As the church could now be
supplied without him, and still wishing to carry out his original plans, he gave
up the charge of the church. The following year, receiving a call from the North
Newport church to become its pastor, he accepted the call, as this would not
interfere with his plans, but further them, and took a letter of dismission from
the Sunbury church to the former. About this time the Rev. C. C. Jones commenced
his labors among the colored people in Liberty county, and he found in him a
warm, zealous and efficient supporter and fellow-laborer. Oh, how his heart
leaped for joy when he first witnessed the performances of the colored children
in the Sabbath-school, under the instruction of Mr. Jones. He rejoiced, for in
this system of instruction he saw the prospect of materially and permanently
improving the moral character of our colored population.
Three or four years before his death, he gave up the charge of the North
Newport church and gave his whole time to preaching to the poor white churches
in the back parts of Liberty county, and in some of the adjoining counties, and
also to the colored people.
"We come now to the closing days of his life, which "were, indeed, dark,
painful, distressing in the extreme."
From his strong frame, robust constitution, almost uninterrupted health and
his habit of life, one would have judged that he certainly would have lived out
the full measure of the days allotted to man in this life. But, without any
previous sickness, his health, without any apparent cause, began suddenly to
decline in the summer of 1836. The best medical advice was obtained upon the
first indications of disease, but it was of no avail, for he continued gradually
to waste away, in flesh and strength. He suffered no pain, but experienced a
most unpleasant and indescribable sensation in his left side, which he more than
once said he would cheerfully exchange for acute pain. He was not confined to
his bed nor to the house during the first part of his sickness. His appetite was
good, and he experienced no inconvenience from eating whatever he relished.
Every remedy tried by his physicians failed, and they were at a loss to know
what was the true nature or precise location of his disease. To one of his
physicians, who was speaking to him of the novelty and hidden nature of his
complaint, he calmly replied, "God has a way to take every man out of the world,
and the disease from which I am suffering is the way in which I am to go." He
seemed fully impressed from the first of the attack that he should not recover.
He arranged all his worldly matters in the first stage of his sickness, and then
dismissed them from his mind as things with which he had no more to do. He often
spoke of his approaching dissolution, and he truly spoke of it as one who was
strong in the Lord. No doubt overshadowed his faith—no fear disturbed his hope.
His soul rested with unshaken confidence in the merits of Christ for acceptance
with God. He was usually cheerful, yet it was the cheerfulness of the Christian
chastened to a temper becoming one who felt that the time of his departure was
at hand. Such being the uniform tenor of his mind during the summer and fall,
how great was my astonishment when, on the 9th of January, 1837, at four o'clock
in the morning, he had me called to him.* When I came to his bedside, he told
me, with the deepest distress, that he had been deceiving himself; that he had
never known Christ. He expressed himself in such a manner as induced me to ask
him if he had been living in any secret sin. He exclaimed, "God forbid! I have
never sinned knowingly, and intentionally against God since I professed the name
of Jesus. But," said he, "I am lost, I shall be damned." I was so perfectly
astounded I knew not what to say. After a little pause, he again exclaimed, "But
God will be glorified!" I asked him if the thought that God would be glorified
in his destruction gave him any satisfaction? He replied, "Yes, the glory of God
is all I desire, whether it be in my salvation or in my condemnation—if He be
glorified, I am satisfied." I remarked to him that an unregenerate man could not
feel so. He answered, "My mind is much enlightened, but my heart is destitute of
holiness." Finding it useless to argue the point with him, I turned the
conversation so as to lead him to express himself upon the great love of Christ,
his favorite theme. It had the desired effect; he was soon melted into tears,
and after a few moments, became composed in his mind.
*Rev. Josiah S. Law.
The next day, Tuesday, he was still more gloomy than at any former period. He
said he was without hope and without God. I told him his feelings were the
result of his disease. He replied, "Do not deceive yourself; I am a monument of
God's vengeance, and he will make me an example to all others." I took him to
ride and tried in every way to divert his mind, but it was useless—dark
melancholy seemed settled immovably on his mind. For the first time I feared he
was becoming insane. He had not yet been confined to bed. Though I hoped and
prayed God would save his servant from such a terrible affliction as the loss of
his reason, yet he saw fit to order otherwise. On Friday morning the seal of
insanity was fixed, blotting out all hope, and overshadowing the whole family
with the deepest gloom. On that terrible morning he became angry with me for
praying for him during family worship. He had not risen from his bed. He called
me to his bedside, and in the most pre-emptory manner commanded me never to pray
for him again. He refused his food, and gave such evidence of entire insanity
that from that day until I closed his eyes in death I never left him. To the
inquiries of his friends who came to see him respecting his health, he had but
one answer, "Lost, lost forever!" His physician now blistered him extensively,
which confined him to his bed, and which he never left until carried to the
place appointed for all living. For whole nights would he lie without closing
his eyes, grinding his teeth and speaking in the most terrific language of the
destruction that was coming upon him. Sometimes he would rouse up from his
slumbers at night and inquire, "Is it time or eternity?" Upon being answered
that it was still time, he would in the most thrilling manner exclaim,
"Eternity! oh, eternity, eternity!" During his derangement, which lasted until a
few hours before his death, he had two lucid intervals. Of one of them, the last
before the day of his death, being the clearest and longest, though only lasting
three hours, and the most satisfactory, I shall give a minute account of it: On
Wednesday morning, 1st of February, his paroxysm of insanity was unusually
violent and he was entirely unmanageable. He would not allow me to do anything
for him, not even to approach his bed. About midday I heard him say, as though
speaking to himself, "I cannot give up Christ." He then beckoned me to him. On
going to him, he asked me if I thought he would ever give up Christ? I replied,
"No, I am satisfied that you cannot." He then said, "I shall never give him up."
He asked me to pray for him, which I did. I regarded this request as a good
indication of returning reason, for it was the first time he had made such a
request since the morning he angrily commanded me not to do it. After prayer I
recited several passages of scripture to him, with which he seemed much pleased.
Upon repeating the verse "I reckon that the sufferings of this present time, are
not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us," he
exclaimed, "Glorious truth! delightful truth!" I also repeated, "We are saved by
grace, through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God." He
remarked, "Grace, grace, and only grace." I repeated many more suitable to his
condition, which seemed to fill him with delight, and, what was a little
remarkable, of every verse I quoted he would immediately tell me in what gospel
or epistle and chapter it was, and its number. Whilst engaged in this exercise I
placed my fingers upon his pulse and found it so feeble I thought he was
sinking. Upon doing this he remarked to me, "I am almost gone." I asked him if
his head had not been very much confused? He replied, "Yes, but it is much
clearer now." As soon as I was satisfied that he was himself, I called the
family and told them his reason had returned, but I thought he was sinking fast.
He recognized the different members of the family. About this time a very dear
and intimate friend of his came to the house, and I asked him if he wished to
see him? He said "Yes." Upon his coming into the room he grasped his hand and
thus spoke to him, "Have you come to see me? Have you any hope? What is your
hope? Oh, I beg you as a dying man not to put off repentance another day. You
see what a poor, wretched creature I should be if I had put off repentance to a
dying bed." As soon as the brethren in Sunbury heard of his situation they came
to see him. He addressed them all affectionately by name and told them he was
going home. But his hour had not yet come. He had not yet drunk to the full of
the cup his heavenly father had given him to drink. As soon as his fever
returned, he lost himself and became as entirely deranged as ever. His
sufferings increased as he drew near his end. On Saturday, the 4th, he was again
more lucid in his mind, but it was very apparent that he was failing fast. About
two o'clock in the afternoon he suffered the most excruciating pains. He would
entreat us not to keep him, he was anxious to depart, for he felt that he rested
upon the "Rock of Ages" and had no cause of fear. From the last mentioned hour
until eleven o'clock at night, when he closed his eyes in death, he had scarcely
a moment's ease. Daring these hours of increased and increasing pain we were
continually shifting his position, but he found no ease until death came.
Precisely at eleven o'clock p. m., 4th of February, 1837, I closed his eyes, and
thus closed a scene of suffering and affliction which, thank God, is seldom felt
or witnessed. During the above scene I heard him indistinctly articulate, "Acts
7th," had not time then to look for the passage, and in the wretched state of my
mind I could not think of any verse in the chapter suited to his case, but it
was evidently the fifty-ninth verse, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
He was indeed baptized in sufferings, that he might, no doubt, rise to that
far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Oh, how sweet must have been his
entrance into rest! How gloriously great his transition from a world of
suffering to a heaven of unspeakable bliss!
It is not flattery, nor is it saying too much to state that few, if any, ever
made more rapid progress in piety, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Neither is it said to his praise, but to the magnifying of that grace
which made him, what he was. Religion was not with him a mere profession,
neither was he governed by mere impulse in the discharge of its duties, but it
was fixed in his heart as a living, abiding and sanctifying principle,
impressing itself upon his character in every relation of life. In the very
beginning of his Christian life, he made holiness of heart the chief aim, and
the service of God the great business of life; and to these two objects he
devoted time, talents and property. In the very outset, long before he entered
upon the ministry, he gave much of his time to prayer and the study of the
scriptures. When business called him away from his study, he carried with him
his pocket testament, that he might employ his leisure moments in reading and
meditating upon divine truth. He “searched the scriptures daily." He was in the
habit of rising early in the morning and spending the time before the hour of
family worship arrived in devotional exercises. To this may be attributed the
fervor and spirituality with which he conducted this delightful exercise. He was
ever careful to suffer nothing, aside from the providence of God, to interfere
with worship in his family, morning and evening. His domestic altar was held
most sacred, and upon it he seemed ever anxious to lay his best sacrifice. In
conducting worship in his family, his custom was to accompany the portion of
scripture read with some practical remarks, suited to the wants and
understandings of his family. He was, indeed, the Christian in his house,
seeking, by precept and example, to lead his children and servants to Christ. In
the church he seemed to have but one end in view—the honor and glory of Christ.
To his brethren he was kind, affectionate and faithful, sympathizing with them
in their afflictions, warning them when careless, and reproving them when they
offended. He regarded it as a high privilege, as well as sacred duty, to aid his
pastor in every way he could in advancing the cause of Christ. In his
intercourse with men of the world, he never lost sight of his calling as a
Christian, nor of their condition as sinners against God. Hence, he never lost
an opportunity of speaking a word for God. So common was it with him to change
conversation from worldly topics to those of a religious nature, that it was
often said by his worldly acquaintances, "No matter what you talk about to Mr.
Law, he will find something in it upon which to change the conversation to the
subject of your soul's salvation."
He attained unto great spirituality of mind, and if it be true that "out of
the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," then was his heart full of the
love of Christ, the holiness of God, and the blessings of salvation, for these
subjects formed the burden of his conversation. He was a most scrupulous
observer of the Sabbath; he "remembered the Sabbath day to keep it holy." By
Saturday evening sunset, all his worldly business was closed up and laid aside,
and he commenced the preparation of his heart and mind for the duties of the
approaching Sabbath. So thoroughly was his mind trained to communion with divine
things on this holy day that, on one occasion, after he entered the ministry, he
was threatened with, great pecuniary loss, from the failure of a friend for whom
he had indorsed, which cost him much trouble and anxiety for weeks before he got
through with it; and, though he was harrassed and worried during the week, yet
he told me afterwards that when the Sabbath came his mind was as perfectly calm
and free from all disturbances of a worldly nature as it would have been had no
difficulties existed. He spoke of it as a manifestation of God's goodness to him.
During his Christian course, he was called to pass through some dark and
severe scenes of affliction. By the bedside of au affectionate wife and five
children has he been seen to stand, at different times, in all the calm serenity
of submission to the will of God, and placing his hand upon their eyes closing
in death, express the resignation of his soul in the solemn words of
inspiration, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name
of the Lord." His confidence in God seemed never shaken. The chastisements of
his heavenly Father taught him not to love the world, nor the things of the
world, and clothed him with humility as with a garment. Such was his resignation
under these afflictions that an intimate friend of his—a man of the world—upon
one occasion of severe bereavement, remarked that his religion had destroyed his
natural sensibilities. But could that friend have witnessed the deep struggle,
the bitter conflict between natural affection and the duty of submission to the
will of God, he would have been constrained to acknowledge that the affections
of the heart had not been impaired, but subdued to the recognition of a higher
relation, for a more affectionate husband and father never lived. He was a
Christian of the kindest and most benevolent feelings. During seasons of severe
sickness in Sunbury he was found day and night by the side of the sick and
dying, administering to soul and body.
As a Christian master, he felt deeply the responsibilities of his station.
Frequently, upon visiting his plantation, he would call his servants off from
their work and assemble them for religious instruction. He often talked to them
privately and personally respecting their soul's salvation. He treated those of
his servants who professed religion as fellow-christians. He never punished them
for misconduct before laying their case before the church. He was an active and
liberal supporter of all the benevolent institutions of the day. He
conscientiously gave according as the Lord had prospered him, and if the loss of
a crop rendered stricter economy necessary, he economized in his family, and not
in his contributions to the Lord. He lived as one who was not his own, but
bought with a price, even with the precious blood of Christ.
As a preacher, it was not to be expected, inasmuch as he never received an
education, was altogether unaccustomed to study, and did not enter the ministry
until late in life, that he would have become what is usually termed a great
preacher; but, tinder all disadvantages, it may, in strict truth, be said, he
did become a good preacher, able to divide the word of truth aright, and to give
each his portion in due season. If to preach the word, be instant in season, out
of season, reprove-, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and doctrine,
constitute a good minister of Jesus Christ, then was he one.
His sermons were prepared with much care and study, in doing which he used no
other help than a Bible, with Scott's references. It was in this way he studied
the scriptures almost exclusively, interpreting scripture by scripture. His
sermons were sound and practical, generally well arranged, and often exhibiting
deep thought and much patient study. Upon the great doctrine of "justification
by faith" he dwelt much, and upon this subject he preached with great power. In
preaching upou all the fundamental doctrines of the gospel, he was free from all
speculation, and from everything like an attempt to be wise above what is
written. He was content to give a plain, scriptural view of his subject and
enforce the obvious duties it imposed on men. In preaching, he showed great
familiarity with the scriptures, quoting freely and accurately from them, and
giving chapter and verse from memory. In his delivery he was fluent, rapid and
animated, always throwing his whole soul into the application of his discourses.
He was much gifted in prayer. In witnessing his pulpit performances, one could
not but feel that he was listening to a man who spake as though standing in the
presence of the Great Head of the church. He preached the gospel without charge
to the churches, but with cost to himself; for, though he had a large family to
provide for and educate, a small property to do it with, and somewhat in debt,
making the most rigid economy necessary in order to get along, yet he paid
another to attend to his business, that he might give himself wholly to the work
of the ministry. He trusted in the Lord, for in the Lord Jehovah, he knew was
everlasting strength.
Additional Comments:
From:
GEORGIA BAPTISTS: HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL
BY
J. H. CAMPBELL,
PERRY, GEORGIA.
MACON, GA.: J. W. BURKE & COMPANY. 1874.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by
J. H. CAMPBELL,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
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